After a throbbing loss in the first match, Lucknow Super Giants will face Shikhar Dhawan’s Punjab Kings on Saturday at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in LSG’s first home game of IPL 2024.
The Kings will be looking forward to getting on the winning ways after getting derailed by a loss against RCB while LSG is still in pursuit of their first victory of the edition.
What has happened so far?
LSG has only played a single match in the tournament yet when they travelled to Jaipur to face Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Batting first, the partnership of Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag helped the 2008 IPL champions stay compact. Samson scored 82 runs off 52 deliveries and helped the hosts post a target of 194 runs.
The Super Giants lost three crucial wickets in the powerplay but KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran scored half-centuries to help their side stay in the game but lack of big hits in the last few overs resulted in a loss for Justin Langer in his first match as LSG head coach by a margin of 20 runs.
On the other side, Punjab Kings have played two games until now. In the first match, they defeated a returning Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals by four wickets. English all-rounder Sam Curran, who scored 63 runs off 42 deliveries, emerged as Punjab’s top star in the triumph.
In the second match, Shikhar Dhawan’s side failed to overcome the challenge presented by Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Despite the addition of Harshal Patel, the bowling line-up of Punjab looked dull against RCB as last-over heroics from Dinesh Karthik guided the Royal Challengers towards a spectacular win in the second match.
Head to Head Record
Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings have faced each other on a total of three occasions. The Lucknow-based franchise has managed to win two games while Punjab has only won once. Last season, LSG defeated Punjab in a historic match by 56 runs where they scored 257 runs.
However, the Kings were successful in taking redemption when they faced LSG at Ekana. Sikandar Raza played an incredible 57-run knock in the second innings overshadowing KL Rahul’s innings of 74 runs and helped the side win by two wickets.
Key Players
KL Rahul can end Lucknow Super Giants’ hunt for their first win with his batting prowess
KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants): KL Rahul scored an astounding half-century in the first match against Rajasthan Royals and would like to carry forward his form against former teams, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
With the wicket-keeper batter’s slot up for grabs in the Indian team for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, Rahul would get the extra motivation to prove his credentials to the selectors after captaining the Indian ODI side on the tour of South Africa in December 2023.
Shikhar Dhawan (Punjab Kings): Shikhar Dhawan is the most experienced player in the Punjab Kings squad. As a result, the Indian batter will have the responsibility of leading the batting line-up from the front. Dhawan is expected to get support from the likes of Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone, however, he’ll have to give a favourable start to the innings.
In the first match, Dhawan was dismissed early but the 39-year-old was the Kings’ highest scorer in the match with 45 runs in the second game. With 6684 runs in 218 IPL innings, the left-hand batter is also the second-highest run-scorer in the history of the tournament, only behind Virat Kohli.
Team News for Both Camps
English fast bowler Mark Wood opted out of the 2024 Indian Premier League as he wanted to focus on the upcoming ICC T20 Men’s World Cup. At Wood’s place, West Indies right-arm fast bowler Shamar Joseph was given a spot in the squad by Lucknow Super Giants for an amount of INR 3 Crores.
Last season, Wood played four matches for Lucknow, where he took 11 wickets. On the other side, despite a growing list of injuries, Punjab Kings have a fully fit squad. Hence, the 2014 IPL runner-ups will be playing against Lucknow Super Giants with full strength.
Predicted XIs
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul © (wk), Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Paddikal, Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan ©, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Prediction
On paper, both sides look strong as the match is expected to be a close contest. However, considering the current form as well as the home advantage, Lucknow Super Giants are more likely to take the two points in Ekana Sports City.